Neil at All People Have Value sent a letter to each of his Houston and Harris County elected Democrats -- from the school board on up -- asking them what role they will take in opposing Donald Trump. Neil will be posting the replies at his blog as they are received. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

Additional 'peaceful protectors' are requested at tomorrow's Muslim Lobby Day at the Capitol, posts the Rag Blog.

UT and NFL football star Ricky Williams was harassed by police in Tyler, and the mayor there responded by offering his guest room the next time Williams visits, though Grits for Breakfast figures that offer would not be extended to other racially profiled black men.

The Midland Reporter-Telegram had the story about the mosque in Victoria, a previous target of hate crimes, which burned to the ground over the weekend.

The Texas Observer covered two protests, one in south Austin at the Texas Parks and Wildlife headquarters, against commission member Kelcy Warren (the owner of Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline company) and in San Marcos, where students of Texas State have been repeatedly intimidated by the long history of racial prejudice in that town.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, former state representative Kent Grusendorf has moved on from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Austin's most influential conservative thinktank.

The Texas Tribune covered the DNC chair candidates' appearance at the Future Forum, held at Texas Southern University on Saturday.

DBC Green Blog went to hear Code Pink activists Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin as they swung through Texas.

Rice University's Urban Edge blog has the story on the Texas Historical Commission's designation of the Astrodome as a state landmark, providing the defense against those who would rather tear it down than preserve it.

The work of opposing Trump and what he represents is up to each of us. ​Please follow me on Instagram. My user name is Neil_Aquino. Please read all of NeilAquino.com​​​​. ​​ ​If you've seen a guy walking around Houston with a sign, that possibly was me. Here is my Zazzle store where I sell items that have slogans on them from my signs and some other phrases as well.

I've been considering the need for local Democrats to strongly oppose Donald Trump. Below is a letter I've sent to my elected Democrats in Houston & Harris County regarding this subject.

After the letter is a list of my elected Democrats.

Here is the letter----​I’m writing as a citizen of Houston and Harris County who takes President Donald Trump at face value in his disturbing words and actions.

To highlight just a portion of Donald Trump’s alarming conduct, he has said many Mexican immigrants are rapists, has used Twitter to harass private citizens including a Gold Star family and has hired white nationalist Steve Bannon to a top White House position.

Mr. Trump’s racially biased views and authoritarian actions strike hard at the greatest strengths of our diverse and open community.

I have no political representation beyond the local level. In the current angry and polarized political climate, which Republican could I trust to safeguard my freedoms and safety?

This is why I am sending this letter to the elected Democrats who represent me in Houston and Harris County. My view is that in two regards local Democratic officeholders now hold national responsibilities.

The first is that local elected Democrats are one of the few lines of defense against possible unconstitutional and repressive actions of the Trump administration. The selection of Jeffery Sessions, once rejected for a judgeship due to racist words and conduct, as Attorney General further suggests a Trump Administration actively hostile to minority communities and to basic freedoms.

Resistance to unlawful and authoritarian acts by the federal government must be centered out of the areas where the people who will be most affected live.

Second, local elected Democrats must mobilize people. Low turnout in urban elections cripples our ability to respond to hostile state and now federal actions. The success of Harris County Democrats in 2016 should not obscure the fact that only a fraction of the real political power of our citizenry has been utilized.

We cannot have a hopeful and broad response to the significant threat represented by Donald Trump’s Presidency, if at the same time local campaigns in Houston are decided by low turnout and a few big donors.

We’ve become accustomed to asking little of our local elected Democrats other that they not be Republicans. That course has never been satisfactory in terms of either winning elections or improving the lives of our citizens.

It is quite likely that the same forces that have so successfully funded and elected far right-wing officials across the nation will now turn their attentions to cities by backing so-called unconventional or non-traditional candidates who will pursue extreme agendas.

We now face an unprecedented challenge that demands both imagination and effort from elected officials in Houston and Harris County who support a diverse and open vision of our society.

Local officials must realize that national circumstances have expanded their already considerable responsibilities to include protecting Harris County residents from Donald Trump and his actions.

I ask you to please consider your part in standing ready to resist the policies and social climate from Washington that put the people of Harris County at risk, as well as building the coalitions and culture of electoral involvement and participation needed to protect our citizens today and in the years ahead.

David Collins at DBC Green Blog observes that the Harris County Democratic Party needs more precinct chairpersons (and more progressives, a different problem).

Allen Young traveled from rural Massachusetts to Austin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Rag, the iconoclastic underground newspaper that carries on today as The Rag Blog.

A Texas House Republican from Fredericksburg, Kyle Biedermann, sent out a highly questionable survey about Sharia law just prior to convening a 'Homeland Security Summit' in Austin this week. The Houston Press quotes the head of Houston's Council on American-Islamic Relations as suggesting it's a fishing expedition.G. W. Schulz at the Texas Observer shares the lessons he has learned from hustling in the new gig economy.

Luis Hestres wonders what Trump's election will mean for digital freedom of speech.

Equality Texas is tracking the pro- and anti-LGBT bills in the Legislature.